Turntable mechanism



June 1956 R. w. ELLMS 2,748,625

TURNTABLE MECHANISM Filed Feb. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l j I I7 |9 INVENTOR. ROBERT W. ELL/Y6 6170 MEYj June 5, 1956 R. w. ELLMS TURNTABLE MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb. 25, 1952 E m m R.5 mm l. W W m f w n A TORIYEXS United States Patent TURNTABLE MECHANISM Robert W. Ellms, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor t0 The born Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 23, 1952, Serial No..273,093

7 Claims. (Cl. 74817) This invention .relates 'as indicated to turntable mechanism, and more particularly to mechanism for indexing a turntable to transport work from station to station.

In the application .Serial No. 272,969 of Leon F. Miller filed even date herewith entitled Core Blower, Molding and Draw Machine, mechanism is disclosed whereby molds, cores and the like may be formed in .their respective flasks and .core boxes at one station and transported to a draw station where they are automatically lifted from the transporting means and inverted .for performance of the drawing operation. inasmuch as a platen, flask and mold required to be handled in such machine which may weigh as much as 800 pounds and more, and since the machine is required to operate at great rapidity, as for example at the rate of 370 cores per hour, conveying mechanism is called for which will be both extremely powerful and quick acting and also capable of a high degree of precision operation.

It is accordingly a principal-object of my invention to provide turntable operating mechanism adapted to index such turntable from station to station at a high rate of speed but with very precise positioning of the same and without undue jarring or shock.

Another object of my invention is to provide such mechanism of a modified Geneva type which, .witha minor adjustment, is adapted to rotate such turntable in either selected direction.

A further object is to provide control means for such turntable indexing mechanism to safeguard the latter and prevent operation .of the indexing mechanism except when the turntable has been unlocked and to prevent return movement of the indexing mechanism except when the table has been locked in position.

Other objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one turntable embodying my invention showing the same adapted for the transporting of platens of the type disclosed in'the aboveidentified application Serial No. 272,969 of Leon F. Miller;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view similar to Fig. 1 on a somewhat enlarged scale showing certain of the overlying parts broken away to disclose elements of the indexing mechanism; 1

Fig. 3 .is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 33 on Fig. 2 to illustrate the construction of the power cylinder;

I Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4--4 on Fig. 2;

2,748,625 Patented June 5, 1956 "ice Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 on Fig. 2 (but with the parts positioned as they would appear at mid stroke in the indexing movement);

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View of the turntable supporting means taken on the line 6-6 on Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a detail top plan view of a safety device incorporated in my new mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to said drawing and especially Fig. 1 thereof, the embodiment of my invention there illustrated comprises a'turntable I mounted for rotation about a central column or spindle 2 and having five pairs of arms 3 and 4 extending outwardly therefrom. Platens 5 are adapted to be supported on such arms, trunnions 6 on such platens near their outer edge resting in corresponding trunnion cradles 7 at the outer ends 'of such arms and buttons 8 adjacent the inner corners of such platens resting on the upper surfaces of the corresponding arms. The construction and manner of use of such platens are no part of the present invention but are disclosed and claimed in the aforesaid co-pending application Serial No. 272,969 of Leon F. Miller filed even date herewith.

Referring .now also to the other figures of the drawing, turntable .1 has a continuous circular rib or trackway 9 about its underside adjacent its outer periphery adapted to be engaged and supported by a plurality of rollers 10 carried by upstanding brackets 11 on fixed base frame 12. These rollers relieve the stresses and strains which would otherwise be imposed on the center bearing of the turntable, prevent slight tilting and deflection of the turntable,

and facilitate rotation of the latter by the indexing means.

.a member 13 having two radially extending slideways 14 and 15. A rocking arm 16 is keyed to vertical shaft 17 journalled in housing 18 on a lateral extension of base frame 12. A pinion 19 in the form of a gear segment likewise keyed to spindle 17 is engaged by rack 20 mounted on the end of rod 21 of piston 22 in air cylinder 23 and adapted to be reciprocated through reciprocation of such piston. Power cylinder 23 .is a double-acting cylinder having reduced end portions 24 and 25 into which reduced axial extensions of piston 22 are adapted to enter at the ends of .its stroke to cushion final movement of the piston. A needle valve '26 may also be provided toregulate final escape of air from the left-hand end of the cylinder. A second smaller co-axial cylinder 27 having fluid entry ports 28 .and:29 contains a piston 30 connected by means of rod 31 to piston 22 for reciprocation therewith. Both ports of cylinder 27 may be connected to a source of hydraulic fluid so that reciprocation ofpiston 22 in large air cylinder 23 will require displacement of the hydraulic fluid in cylinder 27, thereby eliminating possible jerkiness in the reciprocation of rack 20.

A cam roller 32 is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis on the end of arm 16 and is adapted to engage the hardened wear surfaces of the radial slideway 14 in member 13. Obviously, when gear segment 1.9 is rocked way 14 and member 13 will continue its counterclockwise rotation. In the embodiment illustrated, this rotative indexing movement will amount to 72, there being five work stations disposed about the periphery of the turntable.

The means whereby such movement is utilized intermittently to rotate table 1 will now be described. Five depending pins or studs 33 are mounted at equally spaced intervals about the underside of table 1 to register with locking means provided to engage the same. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in the particular embodiment illustrated, these five pins 33 lie at equal distances from the axis of column 2 and 72 apart. A slide 34 having a notched outer end adapted to engage a said pin 33 is mounted for reciprocation in radial slideway 15. It will thus be seen that when slide 34 is in engagement with a pin 33 and arm 16 is swung through an are as above described, table 1 will thereby be caused to turn one-fifth of a revolution about its axis in a counterclockwise direction. Slide 34 may then be disengaged from such particular pin 33 to permit reciprocation of rack 20 to rock arm 16 and therefore member 13 back into starting position where slide 34 may now engage the next succeeding pin 33 for repetition of the cycle.

It is, of course, important that table 1 be locked rigidly in position during the period when slide 34 is thus disengaged from any pin 33, and the following means is provided for this purpose. Slide 34 has a vertical pin 35 projecting downwardly therefrom, and in-and-out movement of the slide is obtained by pushing and pulling on such pin. The end of slide 34 toward center column 2 may be vertically slotted as shown to facilitate disassembly of the mechanism, it merely being necessary to loosen nut 36 to permit outward withdrawal of slide 34. A double-acting fluid pressure cylinder 37 is mounted generally radially of table 1 at an angular position 72 beyond the position of slideway 15 in starting position as viewed in Fig. 2, with a piston 38 reciprocable therein toward and away from column 2. During the power stroke of indexing cylinder 23, such piston 38 will be held back in cylinder 37 as shown in Fig. 2. Such piston is pivotally connected through link 39 to arm 40 which is journalled for oscillation on vertical spindle 41. Another arm 42 is likewise journalled on spindle 41 and provided with an -arcuate slot 43 in which such pin 35 is engaged. Outwardly projecting arms 44 and 45 integral with arms 40 and 42 respectively are adapted to be joined by means of bolt 46 so that arms 40 and 42 may be rocked together through action of piston-cylinder assembly 38, 37. Bolt 46 may, however, be withdrawn when desired to permit individual operation of arms 40 and 42 during set-up of the machine. A notch 47 in the end of arm 40 is adapted to engage an opposed pin 33 on the underside of table 1 to lock the latter in indexed position prior to disengagement of such same pin by slide 34 for return oscillation of member 13 back to starting position. As will readily be seen from a consideration of Fig. 2, when piston 38 thus acts to rock arm 40 into table-locking position, arm 42 will simultaneously be rocked in a direction to withdraw slide 34 out of engagement with the same pin 33. When member 13 has returned to starting position as shown in Fig. 2, piston 38 may now be retracted in cylinder 37 thereby to rock arms 40 and 42 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 41 simultaneously to disengage notch 47 from the opposed pin 33 and to advance slide 34 outwardly to engage the next succeeding pin 33.

Since arm 42 extends rather a long distance from its vertical pivotal support 41, a roller 48 mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis on the end of arm 42 may desirably be provided to support the extreme end of the arm as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. It will be noted that spindle 41, which is mounted in a fixed support, is so located that any rotative force of turntable 1 transmitted to arm 40 will be exerted longitudinally of such arm which is generally tangential to the turntable.

A safety device is also provided in the form of a curved rib or rail 49 mounted on frame member 12 and extending arcuately of center column 2 and adapted to engage a downward extension 50 of pin 35 (see Figs. 4 and 7). When slide 34 is moved outwardly to engage a pin 33 through counterclockwise rocking of slotted arm 42, such depending pin end 50 will pass by the end of rib 49 and during subsequent indexing of the turntable will follow an arcuate path along the outer surface of rib 49 as indicated in Fig. 7. Rib 49 thus positively prevents any disengagement of slide 34 from such pin during the power stroke. When such power stroke has been completed, arm 42 may now be rocked in a clockwise direction as above described and depending pin end 50 move radially inwardly past the other end of rib 49 into position to return along the inner side of rib 49 as member 13 is swung back to starting position in preparation for another indexing movement. It is accordingly impossible for slide 34 to move outwardly during such return of member 13 to the Fig. 2 position even if the pressure in locking cylinder 37 should inadvertently be reversed, for example. The respective ends of ribs 49 are located to permit in-and-out movement of slide 34 only at the extreme limits of oscillation of slideway 15.

The outer side of rib 49 is arcuate and centered on the axis of column 2, as are the sides of arcuate slot 43 in arm 42 when the latter has been rocked outwardly as shown in Fig. 2. When, however, arm 42 is rocked toward column 2 the sides of slot 43 will no longer be precisely centered on column 2 and it is for this reason that the inner side of rib 49 follows a corresponding are, giving the rib a longitudinally tapered form. A slight clearance will desirably be provided between the end 50 of pin 35 and the rib inasmuch as the latter is merely precautionary and slot 43 adequately guides the path of travel of such pin.

The direction of rotation of turntable 1 may be reversed simply by changing the timing of the reciprocation of piston 22 in power cylinder 23 relative to the reciprocation of piston 38 in cylinder 37. Thus, if it should be desired to index turntable 1 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 instead of in a counterclock wise direction as described above, Fig. 2 would show the arrangement of the parts at the end of a power stroke and the next operation would be outward movement of piston 38 in cylinder 37 to cause arm 40 to lock the corresponding pin 33 and slide 34 to be retracted out of engagement with its corresponding pin 33. Piston 22 may then be reciprocated to the right to swing slide 34 into position to engage the pin 33 thus locked by arm 40, whereupon retraction of piston 38 will serve to advance slide 34 to engage such pin while disengaging arm 40 therefrom, preparatory to clockwise indexing of the turntable upon the next power stroke of piston 22.

Actuation of the two double-acting piston-cylinder assemblies 22, 23 and 38, 37 may be manually controlled by an operator or, more usually, timer controlled with a sufiicient dwell period provided between indexing movements to permit the performance of the desired operations on the work transported on the platens 5. Obviously, however, the particular form of turntable employed will be adapted to the particular work to be transported, and the number of work-supporting means such as platens 5 and the number of stations may be varied as desired. My new indexing mechanism has proven itself capable of driving a large and heavy turntable with an index cycle of but a few seconds, yet with the utmost precision in locating the work-supporting means at the several stations and without undue jolting and jarring which would be likely to damage fragile cores and the like. It will, of course, be understood that the term turntable" as used herein and in the claims is intended to include all forms of rotatable tables, frames, turrets, and members adapted to carry work, tools, or the like, and such need not in all cases turn about a vertical axis.

Other-modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed. I

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1 1. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and means operative to oscillate said driving member; a plurality of evenly circumterentially spaced projections on said turntable, a radial guideway on said driving member, a slide reciprocable in said guideway radially outwardly into latching engagement with an adjacent said projection and radially inwardly out of engagement therewith, whereby said driving member and turntable may be turned together, lock means mounted on a fixed support for movement generally radially inwardly of said turntable to engage an adjacent said projection and outwardly to disengage the same, being thereby adapted to lock said turntable against rotation, an arcuate cam track generally centered on the axis of said turntable and adapted to engage said slide during oscillation of said driving member, and means operative to shift said arcuate cam track generally radially inwardly and outwardly to disengage and engage said slide with an adjacent projection in timed relation to locking and unlocking movement of said lock means.

2. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and means operative to oscillate said driving member; a plurality of evenly circumterentially spaced projections on said turntable, a radial guideway on said driving member, a slide reciprocabie in said guideway radially outwardly into latching engagement with an adjacent said projection and radially inwardly out of engagement therewith, whereby said driving member and turntable may be turned together, an arm mounted for swinging movement about a fixed pivot parallel to the axis of said turntable and adapted to engage an adjacent said projection to lock said turntable against rotation when said arm is rocked toward such axis, an arm mounted for swinging movement with said first arm and having an arcuate slot therein concentric with such axis when rocked outwardly to disengage said first arm from said projection, said slide being engaged in said slot for reciprocation therealong as said driving member is oscillated, and means operative to swing said arms inwardly and outwardly toward and away from such axis.

3. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and Geneva means operative to oscillate said driving member; a plurality of evenly circumferentially spaced projections on said turntable, a radial guideway on said driving member, a slide reciprocable in said guideway radially outwardly into latching engagement with an adjacent said projection and radially inwardly out of engagement therewith, whereby said driving member and turntable may be turned together, lock means mounted on a fixed support for movement generally radially inwardly of said turntable to engage an adjacent said projection and outwardly to disengage the same, being thereby adapted to lock said turntable against rotation, an arm mounted for swinging movement about a fixed axis parallel to such axis of said turntable and adjacent the outer periphery of said turntable, said arm having an arcuate slot therein concentric with such axis of said turntable when said arm is swung to an outer position, said slide being engaged in such slot for reciprocation therealong as said driving member is oscillated and for radially inward and outward movement along its said guideway out of and into engagement with an adjacent projection as said arm is swung toward and away from the axis of said turntable, means connecting said lock means and arm for actuation of the former to lock said turntable when said slide is withdrawn from latching engagement therewith and to unlock said turntable when said slide is moved into latching engagement therewith, and a fixed arcuate stop member generally parallel to such arcuate slot but shorter than such slot adapted to engage said slide to prevent radial reciprocation of the latter into and out of engagement with a said projection except at theend of an oscillatory movement along such slot.

4. in turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and Geneva means operative to oscillate said driving member; a plurality of evenly circumferentially spaced projections on said turntable, a radial guideway on said driving member, a slide reciprocable in said guideway radially outwardly into latching engagement with an adjacent said projection and radially inwardly out of engagement therewith, whereby said driving member and turntable may be turned together, a locking arm mounted for swinging movement about a fixed axis parallel to such axis of said turntable and adjacent the outer periphery of said turntable adapted to engage an adjacent said projection when swung toward such axis of said turntable to lock said turntable against rotation, said arm thus extending generally tangentially of said turntable when in locking position, a second arm also mounted for swinging movement about the same axis as said locking arm, means adapted releasably to secure said arms together for swinging movement in unison, said second arm having an arcuate slot therein concentric with such axis of said turntable when said second arm is swung to an outer position, said slide being engaged in such slot for reciprocation therealong as said driving member is oscillated and for radially inward and outward movement along its said guideway out of and into engagement with an adjacent projection as said second arm is swung toward and away from the axis of said turntable, whereby said locking arm is caused to lock said turntable against rotation when said slide is retracted and to unlock said turntable when said slide is advanced into latching engagement with a said projection on said turntable, a fluid pressure piston-cylinder assembly operative thus to swing said arms, and a fixed arcuate rib generally parallel to such arcuate slot but shorter than such slot adapted to engage said slide to prevent radial reciprocation of the latter into and out of engagement with a said projection except at the end of an oscillatory movement along such slot.

5. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and means operative to oscillate said driving member; latch means mounted on said driving member for reciprocation radially of the latter into and out of latching engagement with said turntable for selective rotation of said turntable with said driving member, an arcuate cam member generally concentric with said turntable and mounted for reciprocation generally radially of the latter, said cam member being adapted to engage said latch means to reciprocate the same radially of said turntable into and out of latching engagement therewith and also to guide said latch member in its oscillation with said driving member, and a fixed arcuate stop generally parallel to said arcuate cam member adapted to engage said latch means during its oscillation to prevent radial reciprocation into and out of latching engagement with said turntable except at the extreme limits of such oscillation.

6. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, a separate driving member mounted for oscillation about the same axis as said turntable, and means operative to oscillate said driving member; latch means mounted on said driving member for reciprocation radially of the latter into and out of latching engagement with said turntable for selective rotation of said turntable with said driving member, an arcuate cam member generally concentric with said turntable and mounted for reciprocation generally radially of the latter, said cam member being adapted to engage said latch means to reciprocate the same radially of said turntable into and out of latching engagement therewith and also to guide said latch member in its oscillation with said driving member, lock means mounted on a fixed support adapted to engage said turntable to hold the same against rotation, means interconnecting said latch means and lock means for operation in synehronism to engage said latch means and disengage said lock means with said turntable and to disengage said latch means and engage said lock means, and a fixed arcuate stop generally parallel to said arcuate cam member adapted to engage said latch means during its oscillation to prevent radial reciprocation into and out of latching engagement with said turntable except at the extreme limits of such oscillation.

7. In turntable mechanism comprising a turntable, an oscillatory member, means operative to oscillate said member, and means shiftable to engage said turntable for driven movement by said member; means adapted to engage said shiftable means selectively to hold the latter in and out of turntable driving position during oscillation of said member, whereby said turntable may be intermittently driven in either selected direction, and fixed stop means adapted to engage said shiftable means during oscillatory movement of said member to prevent shifting of said shiftable means into and out of driving engagement with said turntable except at the end of sucll oscillatory movement of said member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 398,650 Peters Feb. 26, 1889 454,440 Long June 16, 1891 545.883 Friederich Sept. 10, 1895 553,987 Heath Feb. 4, 1896 646,287 Hundhausen Mar. 7, 1900 2,174,569 Dinzl Oct. 3, 1939 2,632,196 Rappl Mar. 24, 1953 

